Whoever said that OAPs were past their ‘sporting days’ was wrong – and now’s your chance to prove it.
The annual ‘Better’ Club Games – or more informally known, ‘Older Persons’ Olympics’ – is coming, and local ‘Better’ leisure centres are on the lookout for sixty-plus sports enthusiasts to join the competition.
Whether you are an a-class swimmer, ping pong master, badminton-smasher, or eagle-eyed darts player, now is your time to compete for the gold medal, and prove to everyone that age is no obstacle.
This is an overall fantastic fixture, where teams of older people from leisure centres in London, the south-east, and the Midlands come together, to compete in a variety of indoor sports.
Participants don’t have to be world-class professionals by any means, just reasonably good and willing to try their hardest. The event will show off your skills and be a load of fun.
Each year, the Club Games welcomes a different celebrity ‘ambassadors’ to launch the proceedings, present the awards, and boost morale… and this year, actress Su Pollard of ‘Hi-de-Hi’ fame will take centre stage, following on from touring her one-woman show.
Su has said: “I’m so excited to be joining the ‘Better’ Club Games this year and showing the world that older people can keep fit and enjoy ‘Hi-de-Hi’ jinks as much as the youngsters!”
Previous celebs have included late dancer and TV star Lionel Blair, ‘Allo Allo’ actress Vicki Michelle, Coronation Street’s Beverley Callard, swimmer Duncan Goodhew, and last year was TV personality Christopher Biggins.
More entries are expected this year than the twenty last year, which saw the top three being Epsom & Ewell, Waltham Forest, and Greenwich. Team Lewisham also deserve a special mention for climbing to fourth place after their ranking of nineteenth the year before.
‘Better’s’ Community Sport Manager in Lewisham, Matthew Houghton, explains, “Club Games is a fantastic event, demonstrating that you are never too old to have some rivalrous fun. It’s so great to see older adults competing against each other and smiling whilst doing it. The event is a great occasion to meet new people and represent your local area. This is a great day out, so if you are reasonably sporty (and a tad competitive) why not join team Lewisham on the 1st October?”
There are participating leisure centres right across London and other Home Counties who are looking for new conscripts – so now is the time to sign up before the deadline of Friday 19th September.
The event is taking place this year on Wednesday 1st October at Copper Box Arena in the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.
Since it’s inception in 2006, the Better Club Games has become a major yearly occasion of two days full of competitive fun. It brings senior customers together, to not only battle against local Better leisure centre teams and other boroughs for the Club Games trophy, but also motivates them to move their body and show off what they can do, no matter their age.
The charitable social enterprise GLL runs Better leisure centres and are in partnership with local authorities.
To find out more, drop in at your local ‘Better’ leisure centre or click here.
